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What would be our ideal goal for fiber?

Hi Ian,
I have a question, being a newbie to Alpacas, what would be our ideal goal in looking to improve our fiber quality. Is there an ideal micron that is desired in the manufacturing end of the industry? And how would one go about reaching that goal if they started with a less than perfect quality fiber animal? How many generations, approxiametly, do you feel it takes to improve a herds fleece quality?
Janice K Johnson

Re: What would be our ideal goal for fiber?

Janice,

Please pardon the delay in answering you.

There is a common misconception that micron is the be-all and and-all of quality - the reality is that it is but one component in a mix that determines quality as set by a processor or spinner. While we stress micron in shows and in fiber testing, handle and uniformity of micron are also huge contributors to quality.

The other problem is the one about what fiber test tells you the average of the micron along the length of the fiber, which is what buyers purchase, and which test more accurately reflects a total year of production. When breeders complete the self-test column in my OFDA 2000 information sheet they are really trying to identify what a processor sees in a fleece - and the current results of several thousand tests is that about 30% of breeders get it right about 40% of the time with the large majority of those not right erring on the side of finenjess; in other words, many breeders see their fiber as being finer than it really is.

There are some areas of the US that will not consistently produce superfine (under 20 micron) alpaca fiber though, of course, most people want to.Because of small numbers of breeding females in most herds in the US, the ability to cull heavily is not usually an option so many breeders are left to work with what they have and progress can be slow in those situations.

I would suggest that for the average alpaca breeder, having 2, 3 and 4 year old geldings produce fiber in the 22 -24 micron range with an SD of under 4 micron and a CV of under 21% would be a good breeding plan objective if not result. Of course, the darker the color, the less likely these figures will be developed in the short-term but should someone achieve it, they will hold a special place in the national herd in my view.

the question then is, how to achieve those figures?

For me, it is much more important to breed a line of alpacas that are consistent reproducers of their fleece traits rather than the more usual approach of trying to breed individual 'champions' - it is an extension of the old concept of a team of champions will not beat a champion team - a champion herd will always deliver more consistently better animals than a herd of champions. In other words, the branding of an alpaca business relies upon buyers coming to purchase, not a breeder finding buyers. An alpaca breeder has truly arrived as a power when existing buyers come back again and again for their genetics as well as referring people through their own success.

In my view this happens when genetics reproduce reliably and predictably and that happens when a herd is so alike that the differences are minimal - except, in the case of alpacas, for color.

So, what does a breeder do to produce consistently reliable quality fiber? Simple for me - just make all the females as alike as possible and then move the whole herd along by not concentrating on the individual but on the herd. This means using selected sires over the whole herd and ensuring that genetics coming into the herd are always better than those within it - and that means using science and objective measurements as enhanced decision-making tools.

Set the breeding objectives, set herd averages, benchmark where the herd is at, decide which traits are the most important (generally color does not rank very high in this process), identify what your region is capable of producing, set the resource allocation (mainly money) and forget the hype and unsupported reputation of sires being promoted to you.

On top of all this, be prepared to cull (culling does not necessarily mean slaughter), identify the best female lines within the herd, always keep the best and sell the rest (why people sell their improved animals whilst keeping the dams bemuses me!).

My simple answer is to breed for density and staple length - density and length give weight and all fleece is sold on weight. Longer fiber grows faster and usually is finer if the animal is dense. Breeding for fineness alone is a potential recipe for longer-term disaster if the merino sheep is any indication. By making sure that every male coming into the herd is denser and has a better average daily fiber growth rate, improvement will be automatic.

Oh, and keeping the herd average age under 7 years will be a good idea as well!!

Regards

Ian Watt

Re: What would be our ideal goal for fiber?

This then truly isn't much different in approach
than what I have been used to in my over 30 years
in dog breeding when I was showing. The judges
always would say to me or my clients that they
always new who the breeder was as the type and
consistancy in coat quality was unmistakable.

While in the dog breeding and showing you can
indeed do many things [artificialy] to improve
the appearence of coat quality you still have to
have the right gentics behind them to have the
length, density and correct texture.

Thank you for your response this gives me a
direction as to what I need to do for the future
of my breeding program.